Refrigerator construction



R. H. BISHOP REFRIGIEZRA'IOR CONSTRUCTION Filed June 14, 1945.

Jan. 24, 1950 IN V EN TOR. Palmer H 51.51101 BYQMW W Afro/2N5 Y;

Patented Jan. 24; 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OF FlCiE REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION Robert H. Bishop, Champai gn, 111.

Application June 14, 1945, Serial No. 599,413

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to an improved insulated cabinet construction and particularly to a cabinet used in refrigeration.

,One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a cabinet construction having ,hermeta cushion and seal which also acts as a decoration.

Another object of the invention is to combine the stiffening means for the walls of the cabinet with the container means for containing the insulation between the walls,

A further object of the invention is to provide a structure which minimizes the vapor "flow "of moisture from the exterior to the interior of the cabinet.

Still another object of the invention is toprovide a breaker strip or joint between the inner and outer Side walls of the cabinet in such a mannor as to prevent transmission of heat the-rethrough.

.An important object of the invention is to provide a wall construction and seal around the lid which is easy and economical toibuild and which can be rapidly assembled.

In cabinet, and especially "refrigerator cabinet construction, it is -neeessaryto' "have breaker which not only serve to support spac'ezapart the side walls zcontainingrrthe insrflatlon, butane also used around the door giazmb to provide asealing area between the door and cabinet. .Most of inet which is highly desirable for obtaining an efficient refrigerator cabinet.

These difliculties have been overcome by construction described herein and my invention has the following advantages.

The breaker strip which is continuously attached, for example by welding, throughout its length provides "for hermetically sealing-the insu'lation between the .metal sides or sheets torming the side walls of the cabinet. Insulation not so sealed either tends to take up moisture which makes it less efficient or it tends to dry out causing shrinking of the insulation and permitting the insulation to settle to the bottom leaving no insulation at the top.

Welding -.of ,he breaker strip is a cheap and economical way to attach'the breaker strip to the two metal sheets forming the wall of the cabinet. Previously this has not been extensively used since it was .difilcult to hide and it must be hidden for the sake of appearance. Refrigerators, display cabinets, food freezing units and the like must have a certain amount of eye-appea in order that they may be sold. By use of my construction I am able to use welding and such welds are covered by a rubber-like seal and the rubberl'i'ke seal itself, by extending over the outside edges ofthe walls, adds a decorative feature to the overall appearance of the cabinet.

My construction provides a cushion around the door openingfor cushioning the closing of the lid or door and such cushioning provides a total length seal around the entire perimeter between the door and the cabinet door opening.

Two of the big probems in refrigerator construction are (1) preventing heat from the exterior from being transmitted to the interior and (2') preventing transfer of moisture in the form of vapor through the walls from the exterior to the interior.

In regard to (1) this problem would he 'very easy if it were not necessary to space apart and support thee-beets forming the side walls for re- :retain their advantage as a support and to ofiset their heat transfer properties, which is a disadvantage, by insulating them from the s'ide'she'ets with cements, plastic materials, insulating materi-als and the "like. However as the walls expanded and contracted due to changes "in tempen ature such "heat insulators would gradually pull apart "fromthe sheets "forming the walis and from the breaker strip, allowing a flow of vapor or moisture to pass through the side walls to the interior of the box. This had two bad effects: (a)

order to transfer as little heat as possible.

it caused undue condensation on the refrigerator coil in the box resulting in an uneconomical operation as well as making the cooling coil less effective, (b) it permitted the insulation to become water soaked and when the insulation froze it crumbled and greatly reduced its efficiency.

In my construction I sacrifice to a very limited extent the prevention of heat transfer through the breaker strip and provide a means for absolutely preventing a flow of vapor from the exterior to the interior by hermetically sealing in the insulation so moisture can never get to it and by providing a total length cushion Seal around the lid and lid opening.

In general this invention comprises a cabinet having an opening and a door for closing the opening. The walls are constructed by welding a breaker strip to the inner and outer metal sheets comprising the wall in such a manner as to form a recess between the metal sheets adjacent the door opening. The weld must be uniform and continuous in order to seal in the insulation contained between the metal sheets. The recess formed by the breaker strip is filled with a cushion-like material and is extended slightly above the edges of the metal sheets to provide a cushioning eifect when the lid is closed. The cushioning material may be cork, fibrous wood, spongy sheet material, cardboard, sponge rubber, insulating blocks and the like as long as such material has some resiliency to provide a cushioning effect and at the same time does not tend to crumble or break under repeated closing of the door.

The breaker strip is made as thin as possible in Furthermore a U-shaped breaker strip provides a longer path of travel of heat therethrough.

Especially is there less heat loss in my device because the U-shaped breaker strip rests directly on insulation and the large mass of insulation conducts heat away before it can reach the inside of the box. The cork like material in the recess of the breaker strip acts in the same manner. I therefore minimize the flow of heat through the breaker strip by (1) longer path of travel, (2) using light gage metal and (3) having the breaker strip in direct contact with insulation and the like to take away the heat by conduction. This is obtained while still retaining the feature as substantially preventing all vapor flow through the walls of the box or through the seal around the door or lid.

In order to hide the welding and the portion of the breaker strip construction which tends to lessen the eye appeal characteristics of the cabinet, the cushioning material may extend over the edges of the metal sheets forming the wall in 'order to hide all of the welding and may be designed so that it also provides a decorative feature. However it is usually preferred to place over the cushioning material placed in the recess, a rubber-like material. which covers the cushioning material and the welded breaker strip plastic film, molded plasticand similar materials but materials somewhat resilient are preferred.

It is preferred to use a U-shapedbreaker strip for two additional reasons thanthose given above.

weld must be uniform and continuous.

(1) The sides of the U can readily be welded to the metal sides of the wall.

(2) The U-shaped breaker strip provides a recess into which can be placed the cushion material as above described.

Other advantages, uses and objects will be apparent by referring to the drawings which show a perspective view of a cross-section of a portion of a cabinet wall and door or lid. The lid section is generally designated by A and the wall construction by B, the two sections coming together when the lid is closed along the line CC. The interior of the box is denoted generally as D.

Referring to side wall construction B, metal side walls or sheets I are spaced apart and fastened together by a U-shaped breaker strip or joint 2 which is welded at 3. The U-shaped breaker strip should be made of as light gauge material as possible. Preferably the sheets I are 20 gauge and the breaker strip is 30 gauge. A continuous and uniform weld seals the insulation between the walls and thereby the insulation is unaffected by exterior atmospheric conditions and primarily it prevents a vapor-flow through the walls from the exterior to the interior.

Prior to inserting the U-shaped breaker strip 2 between the walls, insulating material '6 is placed in a preformed corrugated box I and the packaged insulation is placed between the sheets i. The corrugated box not only serves to contain the insulation but also acts as a stiffening means for the side walls I. It is easier to provide a suitable means for joining the side walls to the floor of the box, for example, than it is to provide a breaker strip adjacent the door jamb. It is of course necessary to have the insulation hermetically sealed between the walls of the remaining portion of the cabinet not shown in the drawing, in order to accomplish the objects of my invention and in general the same type breaker strip is used.

The outer portion 8 of the wall I- may be finished with paint, porcelain or any other suitable material which is durable and has a good appear ance.

As shown on the drawing, it is preferable to have the U-shaped breaker strip inserted between the plates l to form a recess and to have the upper edges of the strip welded at 3 substantially flush with the upper edges of the metal sheets I. The In the recess a resilient material 4 is inserted to provide for proper cushioning upon closing of the lid. The particular type of resilient material is not important but it is preferable to have a porous, noncrumbling material like cork although'fibrous wall board, sponge rubber, and other materials may be used. The cushioning material '4 should extend somewhat above the edges of the plates l as shown in order to provide the proper cushioning effect and it necessarily follows that it must be durable enough so it will not break or crumble during repeated opening and closing of the door or lid A.

A sealing cover comprising a rubber-like material 5 is placed over the cushion material l and extends over the sides in order to completely hide the welded joint between the U-shaped breaker strip and the side walls. This sealing cover may be rubber, plastic or other material of a similar nature but should be in itself somewhat resilient to' supplement the cushioning effect of the cork-like material 4. may be of a decorative design on the outside of The sealing cover 5 the cabinet such as the corrugations shown in order to serve both a useful and an ornamental function.

The lid or door A of the cabinet is similarly constructed. The lid in general comprises metal sheets 9 enclosing insulation 6 in corrugated cardboard l. The outer sheet 9 is curved as shown for the sake of appearances and may be finished at S by paint, porcelain and the like.

A stiffening member i9 is provided at the corner to make a strongly constructed lid, and is welded to outer sheet 9 at M. The inside sheet 9 is bent to form leg 12. A U-shaped member 13, similar to breaker strip 2 is placed between leg 12 and member l9 and welded at H and I 4. This weld must be continuous throughout in order to seal in the insulation and prevent the vapor-flow as previously discussed. The U-shaped member i3 supports part of insulation 6. Again in the lid construction hermetically sealed insulation preventing vapor-flow is obtained and yet heat loss through the breaker strip is kept at an absolute minimum.

Cork-like material 4 and a rubber cover 5 are provided in a manner similar to the Wall construction.

Thus when the door is closed, a tight seal is formed between the rubber covers 5 preventing any loss of heat from the interior of the box to the outside and the entire structure forms a cushion which is important in frequent closing of the lid to prevent jarring which is not only discomforting to those using the cabinet but is also detrimental and sets up strains and stresses in the remaining structure.

I claim as my invention:

In a receptacle having insulated walls and a door, a wall construction comprising a pair of spaced metal plates terminating in free edges in a common plane, insulating material between 4 said plates, a sheet metal breaker strip of U-shape in cross-section having its legs secured in sealing engagement to said plates with the ends of said legs substantially flush with said free edges of said, plates and hermetically sealing the space between said plates, the portion of said breaker strip which connects the legs being spaced inwardly from the free edges of such plates to form a recess between the edges of said plates, resilient insulating material disposed in said recess and projecting beyond the free edges of said plates to form a cushion for the door of the receptacle, and a resilient, elastic, generally U-shaped cushion covering disposed over said resilient insulating material and over the edges of said plates to conceal said resilient insulating material and the free edges of said plates, said elastic U-shaped cushion covering forming the abutting surface for the door.

ROBERT H. BISHOP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 479,973 Chase Aug. 2, 1892 1,312,663 Young Aug. 12, 1919 1,833,300 Peck et a1. Nov. 24, 1931 1,845,353 Snell Feb. 16, 1932 1,967,611 Finck July 24, 1934 2,097,186 Hinnenkamp Oct. 26, 1937 2,162,271 Munters June 13, 1939 2,184,336 Devine 1- Dec. 26, 1939 2,205,778 Forsthoefel June 25, 1940 2,299,053 Ferris Oct. 13, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 385,503 France Mar. 19, 1908 

